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Skill Set: Close Combat Rules of Life
As Tiger wasn't available to provide today's "Skill Set" column, Editor Rich Grassi steps in with some "rules of life" for close combat.
The controversy over "point shooting versus aimed fire" has consumed many pages and made publishers a little pocket change. There was at times a great deal of heat generated with little light.
Usually, we don't accept rules in a fight. The job is to win. But to win in close combat, there are some rules. Understanding them lets us make our own decisions as to where on the continuum between pointing and precision we should be.
Rule #1: Bullets don't work!
At the risk of alienating ammo manufacturers, the fact remains that even if we do make hits, the fight may not be over. It often isn't. I first heard it put that way by ace gunfight trainer Gene Zink when he was with HK's International Training Division. His statement was confirmed by Jim Cirillo who, for part of his career, had to shoot people for a living. He'd seen them shot with about everything. Relying on a few hits to put an assailant out is akin to buying a lottery ticket: you might get lucky, but probably not.
Rule #2: The offender has the upper hand.
He knows (1) if he's going to fight, (2) if so, when he's going to fight, (3) what he's going to fight with, (4) and his avenue of escape.
They often control the distance of the encounter and have the element of surprise. Of what import is this rule? Read on:
Rule #3: FBI "Law Enforcement Officers Killed" summaries do not mean that we waste time learning to shoot at distance.
Look at the data: we lose the overwhelming number of officers up close. There is no time to see the threat let alone counteract it. Besides if we're close they can't miss! When we're "in the hole," the fight is over before we know there is a fight.
Rule #4: Guns are "remote control" weapons.
Superb police trainer Vince O'Neill noted that guns are pretty crappy tools up close. Sure, it's easier to hit but it's easier to be hit too. Getting the gun out when you are belly-to-belly is an invitation to a gun grab. Don't be there. If you have to close with someone, (a) have a plan before you go and (b) work the plan quickly and efficiently. Set your opponent up for handcuffing before you approach using voice directions. If he's reluctant to be handcuffed, ask yourself "why?" And don't go.
Rule #5: Up close, guns can be more trouble than they are worth.
Keep it locked in as you approach. Know that, if you have time at all, you'll only have time to use the tools that are already deployed - your hands. A trainer once proposed that we know how to clear (the oncoming threat), adjust (to the line of the assault) and trace (the assault path and implement). This lets you use your hands to sweep, trap and control the weapon.
Assume it's going to be a fight and look for it. Spar and grapple with training partners. Learn to look and see instead of to "look without seeing."
Rule #6: In the words of another police trainer, know that you can get injured and accept it.
You don't have to accept defeat but accept that winning entails a price. Clive Shepherd, Royal Marine and gunfight trainer, put it this way: "Just get on with it and get the damn job done!"